Diabolical Posession
by Aleatoric
Summary: There was a sort of twisted romanticism in her with which he identified. But he didn’t know if he would be able to forgive her, or himself, if anything happened to Tifa. [Cloud x Tifa x Vincent][yuffie x reno ish].Cloud and Vincent are running out of time
1. Waltzing with an invisible partner

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or locations, they belong to Squaresoft/Square-enix._

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_Ok, **major rewrite here**… I'd looked back at this chapter when I went to write the fourth one, and found myself disgusted with it! I think it was putting a lot of people off reading the story as well, due to it's absolute lameness. Hopefully this is much better, and a little more engaging! Ps. To those who are following this story, ch4 will be up really soon! I promise! And It will have all my personal messages of thanks to reviewers that I don't have time to do right now!_

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**Diabolical possession - **_Locked in one's ego with one's sins._

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**I. Waltzing with an invisible partner.**

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Is eternal life a gift or a curse?

Many wish for it, fantasise about it. Dream sweet and passionate dreams of it. Reaching to grasp it, they wither like thirst-ridden flowers, and fail in the sun's dying rays.

To him, an unquestionable curse. It was he who was damned to watch them, their mortality reflected in his blood-red eyes, as they hurriedly gasped their final breaths. But why was it he feared the deaths of his mortal companions, if it were indeed they who were the blessed ones?

_Because you fear being alone. _

And, the harder for him to accept; _Because you love them._

He brushed these ideas aside temporarily to focus on his current situation. Moving through the darkness, his walking pace abruptly stopped. Without warning, he vaulted up the nearest tree with silent and graceful agility.

Again, his inner voice taunted him. _Because you can never know life as they do. _

He focused his attention on the band of four thuggish robbers that had followed him from Midgar, to the wooded outskirts where he now walked. He couldn't help but let the corners of his lips twitch into a smile at their feeble attempts to be silent enough to catch him by surprise. He could hear their every footfall, their every breath. And now he could hear them whispering to each other, asking where he had gone, and whether they should stab him and then take the money, or take the money and then stab him. Hopeless fools.

_Because you are already in love._

He fingered the gun within his cloak lightly on instinct, but then decided against it. He had killed too many already. Perhaps a little enforced reform was more appropriate for the situation. They were now directly below him. He picked out the form of the nearest one, and leapt down onto him, forcing him to the ground. Vincent attempted to silence him with his hand, but a muffled cry escaped and alerted the others. The nearest one took a swing at him, knife in hand, shining in the moonlight, and succeeded in cutting his chest. Vincent grunted as blood seeped from the fresh, and thankfully, shallow wound. '_Getting sluggish, old man..'_ He smiled wryly to himself. Grabbing the man's knife hand, Vincent twisted it sharply enough to break it with a sickening snap, causing the second thug to drop the blade, screeching wildly. Aware that the two remaining thugs were at least a few seconds away from him, Vincent took the opportunity to smash his gleaming claw into the second thug's side if the head, knocking him out, before reaching for the fallen knife with his other hand.

Seeing this, the first man, still winded from being jumped on cried out loudly- shrill and full of venom, first directing his vehemence at Vincent, then his fellow muggers-

"..the fuck? You some kind of freakin' monster! He's got a fucking claw!"

Vincent grasped the knife subtly and made an almost scientific incision in the left thigh muscle of the fallen man, in such a way that he would have a permanent limp.

_Because although your body has changed, you still feel human inside._

"Silence!" he roared, more to his inner voices than the bleeding thug. Turning to deliver the same incision to the man who originally had the knife, Vincent's ears pricked at a sound he knew well, the sound of a gun being loaded with bullets. He spun around, his only thought to tackle the gunner to the ground before he finished loading his gun. Legs straining, eyes narrowed, Vincent charged at the gunman, feet pounding on the forest floor more swiftly than the throbbing beat of his heart in his ears. Reaching him, he tackled him to the floor whilst pushing his gun-hand to the side using his claw-hand. They hit the ground, Vincent on top, with a nauseating thud. Raising his claw into the air in preparation to knock this man out too, Vincent was interrupted by a blinding pain in his side. Biting his thin lower lip to keep from crying out, he cursed himself. _There were four men, you idiot. _Ignoring the knife that was now lodged in his side, Vincent turned to face his final assailant, whose wide eyes filled with fear as they met Vincent's blood red ones. Vincent dealt him the same injury as the others-that they would all walk with a limp for the rest of their miserable lives, which he hoped would prevent them from attempting to rob further unfortunates. That is, if they didn't bleed to death before the wounds healed. Pocketing the thug's gun, he decided he'd better do something about the knife in his side. Gritting his teeth, he watched with a kind of sick fascination as he pulled it from his side, and the bleeding subsided his wound began to heal.

He was going to visit Tifa (one of the few members of avalanche, along with Red, who he had found an understanding with), in Cosmo Canyon. To check up on her without her knowledge. He didn't want to involve himself in her life, or, as he suspected it would be, Cloud and Tifa's life.

_Because you love her._

He slammed his claw into a nearby tree.

_You are a prisoner in this body. Condemned to live in it forever. _

Unseen, mingling with the darkness, he continued on.

* * *

Rufus Shinra's eyes flitted from his documents to the clock on the clinically white wall of his office. Eleven and a half minutes past twelve. Everything should be done by now. His plan should be in motion. His focus returned to his documents as his fluent mind calculated various possibilities, but his attention was again re-directed when his PHS rang shrilly. Reno. It could only be bad news.

"Reno?"

"Sir! Hey, I was thinking.."

"Reno!" Rufus cut in. "your report is late. I wouldn't make it any later with small talk if I were you."

"But sir!" Reno protested, in a mock hurt tone. "Have you noticed what a beautiful night it is? Perfect for enticing the ladies. Once, I…"

"-Cut the crap Reno. Report. Now."

Reno, having had his 'play dumb' act cut short, allowed the slightest bit sardonic character to creep into his voice.

"I'm gonna be honest with you, _sir._ Having searched for a while… we have no idea where Strife is. He's practically dropped of the face of the planet. We found all his other Avalanche buddies, but they're pretty much clueless.."

Rufus cut him short. "As I suspected. I need Cloud, whatever the cost. Execute plan B."

"…Plan B, _sir_?"

Reno didn't know why he played this game with the president. But, he may as well play up to the president's low expectations of him. That, and that he enjoyed seeing how far he could push people, especially those in positions of authority. Like Rufus Shinra, his brat of a benefactor. It gave him enormous satisfaction and a sense of well-being. As much as he was ever likely to have in his line of work, anyway.

Rufus was loosing his patience.

"Plan B, Reno. It's not complicated. I'm sure you know perfectly well what I mean."

"But Sir, I don't…" Reno heard a soft click, followed by the dial tone.

"_..Bastard.." _he thought._ "I always push too far.."_

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_Love is a terrible thing. How can it not end in loneliness?_

She sat in an agile position, perched on the windowsill, book in hands. The beauty of Cosmo canyon, she thought. No shortage of books. Books about history, and about the stars. Her eyes scanned the page, but her mind would not register the information. Sighing, she closed her eyes and gave in to her wandering thoughts.

"_I suppose you want to start a new bar, huh?"_

This went to show how much they knew her after nearing death together- in short, _not at all_. The bar had been necessary to early Avalanche's cover, a decoy. She had hated every minute of being in the slums. Surely Barret, who had been there with her, knew that. Obviously not, as it was he who had asked the question. Few had come close to understanding her. Nanaki, perhaps, and Aeris… before she had died.

With Vincent, she had reached the greatest silent understanding that she had ever had with anyone, or believed that she could ever possibly have. But he was nowhere to be found, and as she saw it, disinterested.

And Cloud… she really had no idea what he thought of her, now, only what he had thought as a child. His absence pretty much told her everything. He could be here with her, but he wasn't. No-one knew where he was. Also, disinterested. So she had returned to Cosmo canyon with Nanaki, to stargaze; the only thing she felt she could actually cope with.

_Where are you? _

She dropped her book, and, covering her face with her hands, lowered her head to her knees. And it was at this moment that someone knocked on the window behind her.

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He remembered watching her die, feeling the guilt crash over him in waves, seeping into his every pore. He thought that in time, his guilt might fade. But it fed into him like a highly pressured drip, compounding itself with grief, drenching him. And now, he thought that he was drowning in it.

He guiltily noted that what hurt most of all, however, was that there was no-one there to help him. She, – Tifa, - had left him alone after meteor. Not that he'd said anything about it. Not that he'd mentioned how he felt. If she had any interest in him at all, she would have stayed with him, right? She would have asked where he was heading before she made her decision. He would just have let her down; it wasn't as though she needed to be around someone as messed up as him right now. But he didn't understand why, after all that time standing by him, she had just left like that.

He envisioned Tifa's voluptuous body. He had wanted so much to take things further with her… but how could he enjoy himself, engage in carnal acts, as if everything were fine, when he had let Aeris die? How could he pretend that it hadn't happened, and have a pleasurable life?

So here he sat in the Shinra mansion basement, without purpose. No more world to save. Not there for any reason, apart from that no-one else went in there. He had more time, to think.

A walking contradiction, longing for help, yet shutting himself away.

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_Is this any better? Please R/R xx_


	2. Multiple Deceptions

II

Multiple Deceptions

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"Yuffie!" Tifa mouthed through the window, with a great sense of shock and surprise.

Her comrade, with a shiny smile, had positioned herself outside the window. The slight girl had a large bottle in one slender hand, which almost seemed to tip her figure thin over, whilst her other hand gestured for Tifa to join her outside.

Hastily pulling open the window, Tifa found herself with mixed emotions - elation at again seeing her good friend, coupled with a profound dread at the thought of leaving her self-made prison; her comfort zone with it's quietness, it's solitude, it's books. But Yuffie snapped her out of her reverie.

"Coming out?" she questioned, with that trademark grin of hers. Tifa's mouth still hung open in shock; a choice of too many questions to direct at the smaller girl swimming in her head.

"You know Yuffie… most people use the door." She almost smiled. Almost. It seemed she was too out of practise. "Wutai not cutting it for you?"

"It sure as hell isn't! I need variation!" She set the bottle down on the ground before lithely making her way in through the open window, seeing as Tifa seemed once more rooted to the spot. "and you know that the door isn't a challenging enough entrance for me. More importantly," she added, "We are going to have some fun. And you know how Red gets about drinking and talking and things…" She paused for a well needed breath.

"Silly human customs, I'll never understand them." She said, in a low, mock-stern voice, frowning and waving her hands around in a fashion that she hoped came across like the serious feline.

That smile finally showed itself. It was almost painful, Tifa noted, but it was necessary. Yuffie hadn't outwardly changed to any great extent; eyes dark, bright and fierce, positioned on a pretty honey-coloured face, brought alive by her smile..

Yuffie pulled Tifa into a warm hug, which Tifa returned, numbness thawing slowly.

"Is your door locked?" she questioned

Tifa nodded twice in response.

"Good… lets go then!"

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Some time, and some draughts later, they both lay, backs on a rock somewhere outside Cosmo canyon. Giggling hysterically.

"You wouldn't!"

"I would!"

"Yuffie!"

She passed the bottle back, reactions sloppy. She didn't know how she ended up here, or why she was still drinking… She'd never seen the reasoning behind it as an activity; she knew from her time at the Seventh Heaven, that it was an opiate for those who weren't strong enough to deal with themselves, or with their situation. She had only agreed to a sip, to keep the Yuffie girl happy. It seemed, however unlike her, that one had turned into two, and two to three, and so on. But she felt good, she felt light, free and rather lulled. Upon regaining the bottle, she peered drunkenly at it with a frown.

"Yuffie, are you sure that you've been drinking too? Just doesn't seem to be going down, that's all…" She shook her head from side to side in an inebriated fashion to emphasise each word.

"Don't be so silly… silly!" Was her response. "But," she continued "you have to admit he's pretty hot." She nudged Tifa in the ribs, and winked.

"Well…" 'Tifa', she thought to herself, 'just admit it!' "he is gorgeous… but that's really not the point. He has no interest in women… he's even less interested than Cloud." She laughed sardonically. "That would be funny… falling for the only other person most guaranteed not to have any feelings for me… whatsoever.." Yuffie's wink gave way to a frown as the tone turned serious.

"Don't be like that Tiff… you gotta be more outgoing… ya know… and, I'm pretty sure that something good's gonna happen, right about…" she was interrupted, softly

"Yuffie?"

"yeah?"

"I'm so sleepy… I don't know why… it just… sort of…"

"Tifa?"

"Tifa?"

She nudged her friend. "Tiff?" Harder. "Tiff!"

Out cold. Her face was so peaceful, and beautiful… 'Cloud, how dense are you?' She thought, trying to block out memories of his handsome face. 'Blonde idiot.' She snickered.

She pulled her PHS from her pocket, swiftly flipping it open.

"Reno?"

"Hey… is it sorted?"

"Yeah, I got her…" Yuffie gnawed at her lip. "She's totally conked… we are at the exact spot you told me about… the white rock shaped like a squirrel…"

He smiled. She was so easy to manipulate…

"Great work babe. I'll be… two minutes tops."

It was actually closer to three minutes later when a dark blue unmarked van arrived at Yuffie's location. Before the van could even pull to a halt, a dishevelled looking man left the passenger side and walked smoothly to Yuffie, pulling her into an embrace.

"Reno…"

She uttered his name like a wish. He granted her it, holding her possessively with one hand, the other brushing her hair from her neck to whisper quietly in her ear.

"…Hey… I hope you appreciate what I'm doing for you here… It's going to a lot of effort." He paused for effect. "But I don't mind, anything for you. However, Rude… he's really putting himself out… just make sure Strife doesn't kill us, ok?"

"It'll be fine… just how we planned it…" She gazed lovingly at him. "You feign the kidnap, I'll somehow inform Cloud, without the other Avalanche members knowing… and he can come to her rescue… Surely he'll fall for it…or for her. Something has to bring them together, or their whole lives will be wasted."

Looking down at her then, Reno felt almost guilty for taking advantage of her sickeningly good will. All be it distorted, confused good will, that should have been able to take other forms than arranged kidnap. But this was Yuffie.

"yep" he assured her "just like the plan. Wait at the gold saucer for my call. I'll tell you where to pickup the delivery for Strife." She nodded, and he continued. "Will you be okay?"

"yeah! Of course! Just don't screw this up…" she looked to Tifa, momentarily wondering if she had done the right thing at all.

"Be careful with her…" she added, for good measure, "or I'll kick your ass!"

"I promise, Babe." Reno cleared the few paces to the drugged brunette and lifted her easily over his shoulder. Depositing her in the van was easy, locking it from outside.

He stopped to kiss Yuffie before leaving. "Remember what I said. And you owe me one… or several…" he winked, and was off.

As the van drove away, leaving Yuffie as a speck in the distance, he wondered why it had been so easy.

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please... please... review!

thank-you to numinous-alqua for reviewing! x


	3. Avoiding Suspicion

.III.

.Avoiding Suspicion.

Rude had a headache. It seemed that Reno would never shut-up; no matter how little a response he gave him. The only moment's peace that he had received was at the beginning of the journey, when Reno had been tying up and blindfolding Tifa in the back of the van. Luckily, they had finally arrived at the new Shinra H.Q, and once they handed her over he would be away from Reno's incessant chattering for the night, about how skilful he was, how manipulative, how masterful.

As he manoeuvred the van into a parking space outside the HQ, he noticed that Reno had paused. And then he vaguely realised why: he had been asked a question. Damn. Until this had happened, he had only had to grunt occasionally, without Reno noticing he hadn't been paying attention.

He winged it.

"uhh… I agree." '_Nice one.'_ He sarcastically congratulated himself.

There was a moment's silence, which seemed like forever. Rude might even have winced waiting for a response.

"Knew you would Rude. That's why you're my best pal."

Rude sighed, relieved, as the alighted the van. _'Whew… close one.'_ If Reno had thought he hadn't been listening, he would have faced a barrage of abuse and possibly, worse still, a repeat of his entire hours worth of speech again.

When Reno opened the van doors, Rude lifted Tifa's form gently. She stirred somewhat, but remained asleep. Still drugged no doubt. She was beautiful. He only hoped that Rufus wouldn't hurt her too much, as securing Cloud was his main objective. It was not his place to comment, although he did feel slightly guilty when they handed her over to Rufus, who had ordered them to tie her to a chair and leave her with him and a video-camera. But he said nothing. After all, it was not his place, at least, not when you were being paid as much as Reno and himself were. It's like Reno said, he mused. They were just playing the hand they were dealt - it was all in the contract. Certainly it was easier to think of it that way. Besides, it's always the losers that have time for righteousness.

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It was two days later that Yuffie received a video-tape. One she had to get to Cloud as soon as possible if her plan were to accomplish anything. After all, if Cloud didn't rescue Tifa soon, she'd have to tell Reno to release her. She shook away feelings of doubt as to her actions, by envisaging all the eventual good might come of them. Yuffie always judged actions by consequence anyway, so she figured there was no point worrying about it just yet. Besides, Wutai had been so boring. 

She had already returned to Cosmo Canyon once, immediately after the 'kidnap', to leave a letter that she had written to look as though it were Tifa's, to Nanaki, saying not to worry, that she had gone exploring and would be back soon, etc. All that remained was to work out where the hell Cloud was. Although Avalanche had promised each other not to reveal each other's whereabouts to avoid being swamped by the media, they knew where they had left Cloud after the final battle. Nibelhiem. Best shot anyway. In retrospect, she probably should have found out for definite where Cloud was before the whole kidnap thing, but, well, she was a bit too impetuous for that sort of thing.

The journey was pretty much uneventful, it took little time to reach Nibelhiem. The trouble, she decided, was finding the jerk. She had asked at all the shops, and they hadn't seen him, although in most cases (particularly when she was talking to females) they had screamed excitedly at the mention of his name. Her last port of call was the inn, she figured if no-one there had seen him, she was out of luck. _'Well, here goes'_ she thought.

Upon entering the inn, she had wrinkled her nose at the smell of pot-pourri hovering in the air. The room was decorated with pink and cream floral wallpaper, and various flowering plants covered up the corners of the room. In all, décor that had made her frown with strong disapproval.

Which brought her here.

"NO! I don't want a damned room! How many times do I need to say it!"

She waved her hands around irately. It had never been this hard for Cloud to converse with townspeople to get information! Why was it so bloody difficult for her?

"I just want to know if you have had anyone stay here who meets that description!" Yuffie yelled.

"-he scratches his head a lot, like this.." she gestured.

"-and frowns most of the time.." she screwed up her face.

"Total jerk.. stupid hair.." She paused, thinking how to demonstrate further. "I can't really show you how the hair looks 'cos its so damn stup.."

"As I've already mentioned several times, miss.." said the receptionist in a much-practised calm voice, "I have not seen anyone matching your description in the inn, or around town, or… ever."

Following the rest of this drawn out and irritating conversation with the (as Yuffie put it) dumb-to-the-world receptionist (who had probably, in her defence, thought the girl was on something), in which she also took the opportunity to complain about the 'sissy' wallpaper and 'funky' smell, she stormed out of the shop in anger, slamming the door behind her. She desperately needed to cool down.

Was it possible, she mulled, that she had taken out anger at the collapse of her plan on the receptionist? Nah.

"oooh!" she growled in frustration, waving her fists in the air and jumping up and down.

"I'm gonna kill.."

She nearly jumped two feet in the air, when her angry rambling was interrupted by a stern voice.

"And why, may I ask, are you looking for Cloud?"

She raised her eye level from a rich-red cape to rest her gaze upon a cold white face, with quick eyes and thin, smooth lips.

"_Quick girl… cover your nervousness…" _she thought to herself.

"Vinny!" she cried, attempting to crush him in an inappropriate hug. He gently but firmly pushed her off. Then she started babbling.

"-Cloud?" he interjected, still awaiting a response.

"oh! Yeah.." she laughed nervously. "_Shit! Did that laugh sound suspicious?" _she felt paranoia creeping in.

"ah, well, I have to give him something."

Vincent raised an eyebrow, awaiting more.

"it's a… it's something Tifa left for him." '_Good one Yuffie. Quick. Smooth. Flawless.'_ She inwardly berated herself.

"Let us go to Cloud, then." He walked towards the Shinra mansion.

'_The mansion! Why didn't I think of that!' _Yuffie screamed to herself. A few steps through the creaky gothic gate, Vincent came to a halt abruptly, and turned around.

"By the way… why did Tifa not deliver it herself?"he continued walking again in precise paces, step by step towards the mansion door.

'_oh feck. He doesn't miss a thing, does he?'_

"She's gone travelling. Left a note, and later this.."

"I see. So you have been to Cosmo canyon? Nanaki did not mention seeing you there."

'_Feck! You bastard! You knew!'_

They had reached the iron-enforced maple door. Vincent rested his hand on the handle, and turned around again, to face her, and caught her eyes.

"You see.." he leaned in, and smiled knowingly. "I am certain that letter… was not written by Tifa."

He turned away from her and lowered the handle before smashing the door lock with his claw.

"_Was his tone threatening? Or is it just me? _

He put his bodyweight against the door and shoved. Hard. Yuffie winced.

_Oh crap.."_

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**Thanks to:**

April,

Hipathya

The Highwaywoman

Captain morgan

Numinous Aqua

For reviewing! xx


	4. Bloodshot

_Disc. FFVII is not mine. I promise.

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_

_Ok, so this is kind of.. mildly disturbing. But it's necessary for the storyline. Please don't kill me!

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_

**IV. Bloodshot.

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**

Cloud: a raging volcano. Vincent: a mass of silent and calculated fury. Yet both were equally transfixed by the screen before them.

It provided the only light in the darkened room, which was thick with dust. Neither man took breath; the only sound that could be heard was the gentle whirring of the tape revolving in the antiquated machine.

Tight black straps bound creamy skin to a metal chair. Dark hair spilled around her in disarray, cutting violent lines down her white shirt as she thrashed about wildly. She wore a short pleated black skirt which revealed that her legs had also been bound, tightly enough to cut into her pale flesh. Her eyes were obscured by a blindfold, but the rest of her face was sickeningly familiar.

The camera shook slightly as it was re-adjusted, presumably to rest upon the shoulder of whoever was making the film. This had the double effect of enabling proceedings to be clearly seen by the viewers, whilst also preventing the captor's identity from being reviled. Moving slowly to the left, a steel table came into view. The film-maker reached out with long, masculine fingers and selected a single syringe from a row of five. Holding it out in front of him, he flicked the needle with precision and gently squeezed, and was rewarded when a little clear liquid flowed from the tip. Satisfied, he moved toward his captive. Grasping her right arm, he injected the substance into the wildly struggling girl, who gasped audibly. She thrashed about a few moments longer, before her resistance subsided considerably.

"Ah. Perfect."

The voice was cold and smooth, and laced with aristocratic authority.

"Hello, Cloud. Welcome to my lovely little film. I hope you like it."

He put his fingers under her chin and tilted her head upward sharply.

"And this, the star of the show…"

He continued, as he rubbed her scarlet bottom lip roughly with his thumb.

"Miss Tifa Lock…. Aaah! You little bitch!"

His thumb began to bleed from a fresh bite mark, which she had managed to inflict on him despite her inebriated state.

"You'll pay for that.."

He slapped her, with blinding force. Her head snapped to the side, an angry bruise already beginning to form on her porcelain cheek. He was breathing heavily - in loud, audible gasps, which gradually slowed as he regained the self-control to re-address Cloud.

"But, unlike _most_ films…"

He traced her collarbone with his index finger.

"…this has a raison d'etre..."

His tone filled with mockery.

"That means a purpose, dear Cloud."

His voice betrayed a smile at his insinuation of cloud's stupidity. As he spoke, his finger trailed lower.

"I need your… _assistance_ with something."

His hand rested on the top button of her shirt.

"You come alone. You come unarmed. You do not inform _anyone_ as to the contents of this tape.

He undid her top button, and trailed his hand lower.

"I need your full co-operation, or else…"

He undid the second button, revealing the top of her bra.

"Someone could get hurt."

His hand disappeared from the shot, and re-emerged, clutching a surgical knife.

"You have two days."

Cloud and Vincent watched with a kind of sick fascination as the knife inched nearer to Tifa's body, Until it hovered a hairs' breadth from her skin.

"Yours _sincerely_…"

He made an almost artistic incision into the area just below her collarbone on the left hand side. She made no sound, not wishing to give him the satisfaction; she merely bit her lip until it began to bleed. With subtle cruelty, he made another set of shallow incisions on the right hand side. Blood seeped out slowly. Cloud's blood boiled. Vincent ground his teeth.

"Sleep well, Cloud."

The screen went blank.

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_**Please** review, that is, if you have a heart_ : P

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_**Go on,** I'll love you forever. (in a friendly way, that is) Does anyone actually read this thing anyway! How am I supposed to know if you don't review it!

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Thank-you: _

**The Tiramasu of impending doom:** Thank-you so much for reviewing! Your reviews always encourage me to keep going as I admire your work very much.

**Eyeofthetigerkissofthedragon: **Thank-you! Yes, yes… I apologise for the lack of fluff.. but it's pretty hard as they haven't actually been within a rather large radius of each other yet. : P I was gonna go for something more bittersweet?

**Kiruchi: **thank you so much for the review. And you know I'm going to keep hassling you to continue _Chocolate covered strawberries_ like it says you would, because I love it : P

**DuoAkira:** Yay! Father ted! Well I've only seen a few but I warmed to it when I saw the fathers get lost in the lingerie department. XD But it was a sub-conscious thing, and not a deliberate homage! About the longer chapters-I think that you are right, and im gonna start making them longer now. I just wanted to put this one on its own (cos its kinda dramatic and all). Anyway thank you so much for the review.

**Phantasy-Hope:** Thanks ( : Yeah you know I went for a long time thinking it was nakiki. Oh well!

**Hipaytha: **are you mocking my accent? lol : P. Oh no, wait, you can't be, you can't hear me! - but you know, I think _classic_ is a perfectly acceptable word in context! ('cos I wrote it in you're review, and then you wrote it in mine…) ((or you might have just written it, because you happen to use that word alot, and my paranoia is rearing it's pretty little head! ; ) Anyway! Thanks so much for the kind reviews you have given me, its really nice to receive them as I love your work! (hey! Where's _the second coming _update I've been waiting for? ) XD

**jlh28532:** Thank-you for your kind review.

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	5. Clouded with Anger

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**Diabolical Posession -** _Locked in one's ego with one's sins._

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**V. Eyes Clouded with anger.**

A roar echoed throughout the shinra mansion, making the ceiling to the foundations shake with fear.

"YUFFIE!"

A hand on his shoulder. To calm him as he turned to look directly into blood red eyes. He attempted to shrug it off, but it remained firm.

"Get off me, Vincent…"

He his words slowly, quaking with emotion, his voice dangerously low.

"Now."

Vincent withdrew his hand softly, and Cloud returned his piercing gaze to the door of the dusty room, and glared at it neurotically as it cautiously creaked open.

Yuffie had been outside with her ear pressed to the door. She had been outside the room, with Vincent, for about 24 seconds upon giving Cloud the film, before Cloud had appeared, ashen faced, and taken Vincent to see the video with him. She had been sternly ordered to wait outside, after the door had been shut in her face. It was only natural to her to try to hear what the tape contained. Which is why she was very frightened and nearly deafened when she heard Cloud's cry. Now, she had told Reno to aim for realism, but, she hoped that he hadn't gone too far.

She suspected he might have done when Cloud pulled her through the door.

"WHERE DID YOU GET THIS?" _How dare he…_

She opened her mouth, and then closed it, like a fish.

He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her to the wall in rage.

"WHERE?" _touch her.._

"Cloud. Stop."

It was Vincent. Soft spoken but strong. Cloud seemed frozen in the spot, as if he had just realised what he had been doing.

Vincent moved Yuffie to the old sofa that faced the screen. He moved Cloud into a chair. Cloud sat down stiffly, still slightly mesmerised.

"You must not let your emotions control you."

Cloud shot up out of his seat again.

"What do you know? You don't care!"

Something flashed in Vincent's eyes then. It looked like pain. But Cloud was too incensed to notice.

"I care more than you would know." He muttered, under his breath. Cloud did not hear. Yuffie, however, did. But she wisely chose to keep her mouth shut. His voice returned to audible volume.

"Now sit down."

He turned to Yuffie.

"Answer Cloud's question."

She squirmed under the piercing gazes of the two men. '_Oh god. I'm in for it now.'_

"Post. It was posted to me. What's on it anyway?"

Vincent narrowed his eyes. He was almost certain she was not telling them something, but to bring that up with Cloud around would be folly.

"I see."

"That tape wasn't from Tifa." Cloud interjected. "You must know something." He cradled his head in his hands. " I don't even know where to start…"

"…Things about that tape.. Seem familiar but impossible."

Vincent regarded him calmly. "I would trust your instinct. From observations of the tape, various facts can be known…"

Cloud looked up at Vincent as he continued.

"This is a man. He is rich. We can see that from his hands, and his equipment. Additionally, he knows you fairly intimately. This isn't someone you've never met. He's got contacts, and he has at least a large warehouse, where the film was took. Most importantly of all, he's terribly arrogant. It is in his voice. Lastly… his initials are An 'R' and an 'S'."

"I thought…" Cloud began, "it sounded like him but… that can't be. He's dead. How did you know the initials?"

"They were what he carved… into her skin."

Yuffie could hear her heartbeat in her ears.

* * *

_Tifa's cell, Midgar._

When tifa awoke, one question was forefront in her mind. "Where is Yuffie?" She was greeted by silence.

She couldn't tell what time it was when she awoke, or how long she had been there, or even why she was there. But she could see two aquamarine eyes staring intently at her from between the bars of her new-found cell. And with the light being as bright as it was in the white confines, Tifa could tell exactly who it was.

"Reno?"

He smiled. She frowned.

"Why am I here?" she added, flatly. "I thought we agreed this was all over. Shinra is gone, there's no point in us doing this anymore." She took a deep breath. "What's going on? What have you done with Yuffie?"

She had meant to sound less weary. Less weak. Less wide-eyed with fear for Yuffie's safety, as the last thing she remembered involved being with her. But It just wasn't happening.

He looked her square in the eyes. "I wouldn't hurt Yuffie, believe me. She's not even here: and even if she were, there wouldn't be anything _you_ could do about it right now.." He smirked at her, her wrists chained to the wall with shackles of about a meter's length, inside a barred cell. He had placed a bowl of food and jug of water just over a metre and a half from the back wall of the cell, in hopes that she would struggle to reach it, or at least bend forwards, so he could get a good view down her ripped shirt. His smile grew wider.

"Anyway," he continued, "Shinra has no interest in her."

"shinra?" she queried. "Who took over?"

"Ah… hate to break it to ya sweetheart," he nodded his head from side to side, "but, Rufus Shinra ain't dead. You don't remember your little encounter with him?" He gestured to her bloodied shirt. "he's very much alive."

Tifa laughed sardonically. It didn't really suit her. "I see. So Rufus survives being blown up. Why didn't I think of that?"

"you don't have to believe me."

You're right. I don't. But I can still entertain the idea. Lets assume you are right. Rufus is alive. You kidnapped me.." She paused in thought.

'_But that doesn't make sense. If Rufus were alive, He would have Reno out doing something horrid in true turk fashion, no doubt, as there's no chance I can make it out of this cell on my own. He can afford surveillance technology that makes Reno, and 'guarding' me, pointless. Why would he waste his money on that? Unless he thinks someone might try to rescue me...'_

"But there's no way I'd make it out of here on my own. Why did he need you to guard me?"

"So Rufus sent his little lap dog here to _entertain_ me? I'm honoured Reno, really I am. That must be why you are here, because every other option is nonsensical."

"Actually… I was sent to watch.. guard.. whatever. Make sure you didn't kill yourself.

Irritating you is my own embellishment. A bonus, if you will, to make my job more… interesting. But, like I said, you don't have to believe me. Besides, _I'm_ having fun." He looked her over. "Who said anything about _your_ entertainment?"

She pursed her lips and frowned. He found it sultry: it gave him a kick. He also enjoyed the idea that she had pulled this face because he had started to hit a nerve. He could, by his very nature, do naught but continue.

"However, we could be having _more_ fun."

His lopsided grin bared his teeth in a feral fashion.

"If you were that little dead ancient… Aeris, yeah? Well, let me put it this way. You may dress like the slutty one, but it's pretty obvious where the real sexual experience was going on." He observed her face again, grinning with glee inside, and continued. "We could have had _much_ more fun. I just bet she loved to get down and dirty with…-"

"Aaargh!"

He jumped back as her food bowl hit the bars of her cell with a loud clatter. It hadn't succeeded in hitting him, but it had been unexpected enough to alarm him. Reno was thoroughly enjoying himself. He'd only been there a few minutes, and already he had her throwing things. That he had angered her that much pleased him, but he was slightly disappointed that he had missed her reaching for the bowl.

"How dare you!" Her cheeks were reddened, and she was breathing heavily.

"How dare you defile her memory like that? You are alive because of her! You owe her your _pathetic_ little life." She paused, trying to control her breathing. In. out. She was shaking.

"You aren't even worthy to say her name. If you ever talk about her like that again, I _will_ hurt you."

"Easy sugar. Thought you were rivals anyway.. you know, both wanting to get into Cloudy's pants." She blushed as he continued. "What do you care if I insult her?"

"No…" she said, hesitantly, "I do care, you see…" '_why am I telling him this?' _"I loved her."

He smirked again, seeing an opening.

"Now that, I would pay fine money to see."

The calm composure that she had managed to regain vanished.

"I knew it! I just knew she was dirty! Into threesomes? Was Cloudy there as well? Or was it just you and her? Personally, I'd rather imagine that Cloud wasn't' involved.."

"THERE ARE OTHER KINDS OF LOVE BUT SEXUAL LOVE YOU IDIOT!" She screamed, as her water went the same way as her food bowl.

He had water all over his crumpled Turk uniform.. and his face. He was not pleased, and tired hard to control his anger, as Tifa watched with satisfaction as water dripped from the end of his nose.

"I won't be replacing that." He said, angrily. "Rufus didn't say anything about your condition."

He glanced casually at his watch.

"Rude's shift."

He turned to leave, and saw Rude laughing at him quietly from the doorway. Rude the emotionless. He cursed under his breath.

Tifa had found out several things about her capturers: that they wanted her alive, that they feared she might be rescued, and that she could, under extreme measures, use her sexuality to her advantage. But she hoped that she wouldn't have to.

_Nibelhiem, Shinra Mansion._

"Shinra." Cloud breathed.

"I'm going alone. I can't risk taking anyone with me. You saw the tape."

"I have ways of making myself… unseen. I will accompany you."

Cloud paused. He was going to fight it, but he knew that Vincent would not let him down. He nodded.

"But Yuffie must stay." He turned to her. "Do not tell anyone anything. Do you understand?"

"But, I wanna know what's going on!"

"I said, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

She nodded meekly.

'_I'm going to follow behind you anyway' _She thought.

"Good." Cloud gave her a weak smile. "take care of yourself, Yuffie." He touched her arm, gently. "Let's go, Vincent. We don't have time to play with."

He hoisted his sword onto his back, and then they both were gone.

Yuffie walked towards the tape machine, and pressed play.

* * *

_**Thank you for reviews! Hipaitha, Phantasy-hope, Valie, a.k.a Lilliane, Clouded Angel, Bynon carget (**Vincent guessed, because he know's tifa's handwriting and he's rather intellegent, and he could tell Yuffie was lying ( : **and Fumi.** Thank you all._


	6. My Beautiful Achilles

_

* * *

A/N: Hello! still about.. sorry it's been so long since an update, been so busy with uni stuff.. who'd have thought it's not purely a drunken booze-up like everyone makes out! you have to do work too! _

_Um, just one other thing.. the last chapter involved an interaction between tifa and reno, not yuffie.. i think i was a bit unclear and it confused people.. you might want to go and have another look over it so you arent confused! sorry about that!_

_Chapter dedicated to Hipaytha, for help and support, thank you so much!_ x

* * *

----------------------------------

**V**

**My beautiful Achilles**

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_Have I been… tricked?_

Yuffie felt as though all the blood had been drained from her body as she shook with a sickness akin to fever. Fighting with gravity, she lost, falling to the floor like a rag-doll.

She had never dreamed that Reno would betray her, that he would use her. She remembered that day up on da chao, and how it had started everything between them.

_She'd been fighting her responsibility then, as she always had done…_

"_You **will **marry. And you **will **stop running off on these childish little ventures of yours. Even if I have to beat it into you. You are unbecoming as the Kisaragi heir."_

_The words of her father kept swimming around in her head, drenching her with shame. But also a burning defiance. She certainly didn't want to marry someone she didn't even like, and she didn't want to stay in the same place forever, waiting to die. So why should she have to?_

_Bag stuffed with money, shuriken on her back, she had climbed up to the top of Da Chao to look upon her beautiful homeland for one last time. For she would never return. _

"_Goodbye.." she whispered, in her native tongue. Shaking from the enormity of it all she tried to will away her tears, which only made her shake more._

"_Well… if it isn't the great ninja, Yuffie Kisaragi."_

_She whirled round suddenly. She hadn't noticed him sneaking up on her, and was more than a little unnerved to discover Reno standing there, smirking at her. She didn't know why, but his facial expression made her blush. Ignoring it, she hastily drew her shuriken and moved into a well practiced throwing stance._

"_Whoa, Whoa!" _

_He held up his hands defensively. _

"_Slow down there little one.." _

_He smirked yet again. It seemed to be his favourite facial expression._

"_We aren't enemies anymore, remember? I've left all that Shinra shit behind now..."_

_There was something attractive about the way his shirt was never buttoned correctly, and his shock of red hair hung in an untameable fashion around his angular face. And his eyes… so bright they shone with a quick and alluring intelligence she couldn't help but be drawn to. But these thoughts were quickly pushed aside._

"_Yeah, well I still don't trust you." Yuffie replied, only relaxing her pose slightly. Her eyes narrowed. "Why are you here?"_

_He rolled his eyes at her mistrust._

"_Vacation, if you must know. Although, I'll tell you this much: climbing up Da chao seems like a much better idea when you're totally smashed than when you wake up the next morning freezing your ass off on a mountain cliff. Perilously close to the edge, I might add." He grinned._

_She couldn't help but smile a little through her tears. The first time she'd smiled since her return to Wutai. _

_He must have noticed her tears then, as his voice became soft. _

"_Hey, what's up?"_

_He looked into her eyes. She attempted to brush her tears away._

"_Nothing... I just need to get out of this place… permanently." She said, with resolve. _

_He could see her shaking still, and opened his arms, gesturing for her to come to him. She frowned in response. _

"_Hey, its ok, I promise I won't try anything." He smiled slightly._

_She didn't know what made her do it. Perhaps sheer, killing desperation. But she went willingly into his arms. She had felt so very alone for such a long time. They stood like that for some time, her crying softly into his chest; a comfort like no other: to simply be held. But inevitably, Reno's hands deviated from the acceptable position they had taken on her back and he moved to kiss her neck gently as his hands slowly slid lower._

_He was awarded with a punch in the chest._

"_oof! What was that for?"_

"_Hey! You said you wouldn't try anything!" She yelled through the remnants of her tears._

"_Yeah, Well I meant like kick your ass try anything." He shrugged before continuing. "I know better than to pass up a good opportunity when it slaps me in the face." _

_She smiled again, despite herself. _

"_Hey, I'm heading west… why don't you hitch a ride with me?" He told her. "I'll show you everything..."_

--------------

She was stirred into wakefulness by gentle shake on her shoulders.

"Yuffie?"

A man's voice, low and smooth and intelligent. The kind that gave her goose bumps. The kind you could listen to forever, that might lull you into a peaceful slumber. She rationed internally somewhere in her head that now would be an appropriate time to open her eyes. She did so, groggily, attempting to blink away the sea of emotions brought on by her memory.

"Vincent?"

He helped her to her feet, frowning slightly. But she couldn't discern whether it was out of annoyance or concern. Probably annoyance, she decided. But then, Vincent had always been misinterpreted by their little group.

He helped her to her feet and led her to the moth-eaten couch to sit down.

"Yuffie…" he began, softly, somewhat wearily.

"What really happened? I will not tell Cloud. I give you my word." He paused, drawing a deep breath. "But you have to trust me. I cannot protect you if you lie." His casual gaze became piercing. But it was still beautiful.

"uh?" she mumbled, unintelligibly. "I haven't lied…" Even she realised how unconvincing she had sounded. Must be loosing her touch, she thought.

He sighed, running his hand through his black locks of hair and then began massage his head softly as he spoke. Yuffie did not miss this sign of his worry over the situation, a second display of emotions in what she had perceived to be a private, stoic man.

"We must hurry, Cloud will not be long getting transport, and then we must leave. He does not know that I am here. For your sake, I suggest that you hasten your answer."

She flinched at the sharpness of his voice. As did he, it wasn't like him to lose even a negligible amount of control.

"Yuffie? Begin. Now."

She took a deep, shuddering breath.

----------------------------------------------------------

_Later, Vincent and Cloud journey to find Tifa._

----------------------------------------------------------

'_Why is my head still so messed up? I thought we fixed it. Well, Tifa did. I thought. But why can't I remember? That place…'_

Cloud had phoned Reeve to try to find out the location of the remaining members of Shinra inc. Reeve had tipped them off that he had received reports of Reno and Rude being sighted in Junon. It was the best that they could do to head there as quickly as possible. And so they drove. Cloud was starting to remember things, things about that room from the video. So familiar… he was sure he had been in it, at some point. And for some reason, he suspected it was in Junon. Vincent had told him to trust his instincts. But he didn't know whether he felt that it was Junon just because of what Reeve had said. His mind… was it deceiving him? But he must not give these thoughts more weight, less he be compelled to inaction; the worst possible thing he could do. He hoped that if he managed to calm himself down, he would be able to remember more clearly; but it was no good – he wanted to tear Rufus' throat out and feed it to his Turks, and just thinking about it made his muscles spasm and his breathing hitch. He unnervingly noticed that his usual cocky façade escaped him, however much he might try to recreate it. He sighed in anger and despair. It was useless in front of Vincent anyway – he saw straight through it, and seemed to draw nothing from it. It had always made Tifa feel better- When he told her that everything was under control, and smiled at her. He didn't even know whether she really believed him, or whether she just liked to hear him say it. Like a mantra. God, he hoped that he could find her in time. He knew he wouldn't be able to take loosing her as well. He attempted to reassure himself with the thought that it was obvious Shinra wanted him to get there, so it wouldn't make sense for them to hide somewhere too obscure. It was just like Rufus to put him in a challenging situation. Play God. Destroy him with stress; so that by the time he finally arrived, he wouldn't even be able to play the game. Cloud suspected it was working.

Vincent thought of Yuffie. He did not look upon her without sympathy. There was a sort of twisted romanticism in her with which he identified. She just needed to develop some common sense to accompany it. But he didn't know if he would be able to forgive her, or himself, if anything happened to Tifa. He looked across at Cloud. The blonde looked unbelievably tense, steel at maximum contortion point, waiting to shear. His whole body poised in stress, pressure invading his every move. A beautiful Achilles, blinded by his own anger. But Vincent knew that Cloud was intelligent, he'd seen Cloud take control of situations before. He only hoped his comrade would not let his passions obscure his judgement. The man wasn't the most stable he'd known, and Vincent was unsure how long it would take to push him over the edge. And from the quality of his driving right now, Vincent assumed he was pretty close.

"What did Reeve say?"

A pause. Vincent was thrown sideways in his seat as the car swerved to avoid oncoming traffic.

"… Junon." Was Cloud's stiff response. Vincent waited for further information, but was awarded none. After a large amount of uncomfortable silence between the two emotionally stunted men, Vincent probed further.

"I see. Is that… **_all_** he said?" Vincent wondered whether he could get cloud to let him drive instead, as they narrowly avoided a juggernaut.

Cloud said nothing. He gripped the steering wheel tightly, knuckles clenched, stark white against the thick dark leather.

"..Cloud?" Probably not, Vincent reasoned with himself.

"Its hard to get decent information when I can't tell him anything about our situation." He replied, his words tight-lipped, as he swerved around other vehicles, tyres screeching, like mythical sirens being tortured. "I'm going on instinct. If you don't like it, you can leave."

"No. I will stay." _For Tifa, and for you. "_I trust you, Cloud."

Cloud silently wondered whether Vincent's trust was misplaced. "Thanks" He muttered, under his breath. Perhaps, when they arrived at Junon, his mind would piece together why he had felt that he had been in that white room, from the video, before.

_--------------------------------------------------------------_

_Tifa's cell, location unknown._

_--------------------------------------------------------------_

"Well my dear Tifa, your lucky day has arrived. It's time for your _personal_ meeting with the president."

She started: hadn't even noticed Reno enter the room. She noted that being alone with her thoughts for so long was not great for her already inadequate mental health. And then, immediately afterwards, she wondered why she had thought solitary confinement worse for her mental health than, say, being kidnapped. Perhaps the situation was already worse than she was aware of.

The sound of metal on metal. Looking up, she saw Reno enter the cell.

"_Hmm. This is good. I Can't wait forever for a hero that will never come, and doesn't exist." _She thought, bracing herself; muscles like tightened elastic, breath held fast. She remained perfectly still, sat on the cold floor, long chains trailing across the floor, from her wrists to the wall. She watched with a façade of casual hatefulness as he approached. Step. Step. Step. Closer, closer still. And at that perfect moment, when he was precisely close enough so that her chains did not prohibit her from grabbing him, but not so close as to loose the element of surprise, she pounced with a catlike agility that only she possessed. He was ready for an attack, but she wouldn't have expected any less from him. He was fast. She was faster. Leaping up, she aimed a left-handed punch at his head, which he blocked, smugly. But he hadn't noticed that this was only a decoy to give her enough time to wrap her right arm's chain around his neck. With a sharp yank, she pulled him to her. Whilst he was temporarily off-balance, she took the opportunity to jump up to wrap her legs around his waist, and use her body weight to bring them crashing to the ground, with him underneath. As she attempted to tighten the chain around his neck, he managed (much to his credit), to splutter "hehe.. kinky.." Whilst her expression changed from shock to anger, he took the chance to ungracefully but speedily produce his Electro-magnetic rod from his pocket, his grasping about successful, and dealt her a low level shock to the base of her spine. She screamed: a sound that made his back arch as his lips adopted a roguish smile and. Loosening the chains from his neck whilst she was still in the aftershock paralysis of pain, he flipped her off of him onto her front on the floor. Straddling her, he wrestled her chained hands behind her back and replaced the chains with handcuffs. He replaced the chains that connected her feet to the cell with short chains from ankle to ankle. As her pain subsided, she began to writhe violently beneath him. Pushing, rolling, searching for a way to counterbalance his weight. Leaning forward, Reno brushed her hairfrom herface before whispering into her ear,

"stop struggling.. you know you want me baby.. heh heh." He grinned like a cheshire cat. He stood up, and began to brush the dust from his clothes, which only seemed to make the creases in his uniform worse. Shrugging at this, he bent down again to pull tifa up by her handcuffs. Her face amused him greatly: it was textbook vehemence. But at least she seemed to have resigned herself to cooperation. Grasping her arm, he made for the cell door, dragging her in tow. He stopped briefly to turn to her, and his features once again adopted his trademark grin as he raised one of his eyebrows.

"Now be on your best behaviour, we're going to see the pressy."

* * *

**Thank-you's:** soda-cola-pop (you really encouraged me to continue this, thank you), bynon carget, the tiramasu of impending doom, Hipaytha, azundubz, inubeka, Nando the RPS King, Fan, Tincent, Drakhonasu, Mbel4gs, Lunita Cero, Kannami, Lilly, Shizuya Kaze, Pinstripe, Goshikku seirei, and everyone who reads this lame story : D). I really appreaciate it, i do. Thanks xx 


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